a divine hell || rosalie hale

1.1: Not How You Liked Me

Of course the red haired one would be in my Biology class. He was turned around in his seat, talking and laughing with a boy that I think was in my third period. Unfortunately, by the time the bell rang and everyone had found their seats, I could see that his partner's seat was unoccupied and I cursed in my head. I was handed my textbook by Mr. Molina and uneasily walked over to sit next to the boy whose name I had forgotten. I had not - could not forget Rosalie, though.

He was charismatic - charming even. He smiled a perfect smile and I found myself jealous. His name was Edward, not that it mattered, I didn't plan to have much to do with anyone at this small town high school, much less the Cullens. The way that the entire student body doted on them like a codependent girlfriend made me uneasy. But it wasn't any of my business, and I thought that was the end of it.

"Do you play any sports? Instruments, maybe?" He sounded genuinely interested in my personal life, which I also found strange.

"Um, no. I did ballet, and some...other stuff, when I was younger but stopped a long time ago," I hadn't planned on answering him at all, and definitely didn't plan on explaining my childhood to him. It almost felt as if he had pulled the answer from me, like a sword from a stone, brave and ruthless.

"Well, I teach piano, if you're interested," he smirked at me, but I was determined to keep my face stoic. Instead of answering, I just shook my head. He shrugged and turned back to the handout we were given to work on. With a glance I could see that he had already finished it, and his handwriting reminded me of a time I had never experienced. In fact, that's exactly how he made me feel, like we were in a different century.

By the end of class, I was determined to change my schedule. Hell, I would change schools just to get away from the Cullens. For now, I settled on getting out of Biology. I raced to the front office after Gym, unmoved in my decision. When it was explained to me that all the other classes were full, I huffed in annoyance. I heard the door to the office creak open, but I was too frustrated to care. As I turned around to leave, my breath hitched when I saw the intruder: Rosalie.

"Just have to endure it, I guess." I brushed past the ethereal being, trying to lower my heart rate discreetly. As soon as I passed her, my brain was captivated by her smell. She smelled like lavender and chamomile, soothing enough to lull you to sleep.

I sat in my truck for about ten minutes, contemplating the decision of finding Rosalie and apologizing. For what, I wasn't exactly sure, that's just how she made me feel. Throwing my head back into the seat, I dismissed the idea and started my truck, ready to go home and end this day. As I searched for a decent radio station, I noticed Edward and Rosalie arguing in the corner of the parking lot. She had a finger digging into his chest and he looked to be dismissive of her. None of my business.

My homework was finished in an hour and I had decided, against my own will, to research the Cullens. All I found was that they were the model American family. There were ads for Jasper Hale's tutoring sessions in History and Spanish and Emmett Cullen's little league team. Was he even old enough to do that? Nothing came of my many searches for Rosalie or Edward, though I knew that he taught piano. I knew there were two more of them, whose names had also slipped from my brain, so no luck there. From what I could tell, none of them had any form of social media, which confounded me.

That wasn't enough for me. It wasn't enough to only figure out that they were every bit as perfect as Forks made them out to be. With a sigh, I shut the computer down, mentally exhausted from my extensive search. I lightly swiveled in the desk chair for only a minute before I heard the open and shut of the front door. Perhaps Charlie could be of some assistance. I could only hope that he had not also fallen under their spell.

When I had finally made it to the last step, I noticed the plastic grocery bags sitting on the counter, the Newton's Outfitters logo branded on them. Then Charlie came in, more bags hanging from his hands.

"I wasn't exactly sure what to get, but I had some help from Mrs. Newton and she picked out some pretty easy meals for us to make," Charlie explained after I inquired about the groceries.

"Us? Dad, I thought you wanted me to-" He cut me off.

"I've been thinkin' about it, and I couldn't just pawn off the adult responsibilities to you. You deserve to be a kid! But then I realised that I don't know how to cook shit besides mac n' cheese...so how would you feel about cookin' with your old man?" Charlie seemed pretty excited at the idea of us having a hobby together, even if it was just cooking dinner. There was no way I could turn him down, not with the way his eyes shone in a way I hadn't ever seen.

"Let's see whatcha got!"

After we put the chicken in the oven to bake, we set on making a homemade broth that I had learned from a neighbor in California, which we decided would stew the carrots and potatoes perfectly. Charlie was telling a story from when he and Mom were married, in which she tried to cook dinner and almost burnt the house down. We were breathlessly laughing when there was a knock at the door.

Charlie gave me a confused look but moved to open the door anyway. When he did, an absolutely gorgeous couple were standing there. I knew instantly that they were related to the Cullens.

"Carlisle, how nice to see you! And Esme, the station would like to make a formal request for more of those homemade donuts!" Charlie seemed so acquainted with them, it made me wonder how much I truly knew about my father. Why was I questioning him? The Cullens were the ones who I was weary of.

"Well Chief," Carlisle started once they had been formally invited into our house, "We heard from the youngsters that your daughter had just moved into town! You must be Bella."

"Hello..." I shook his hand, my own damp with nervous sweat.

His touch was like ice, and I had to keep from shivering. They reminded me of the dead people I had seen on movies and television shows, with bone-colored skin and dark circles encompassing their much too golden eyes. Perhaps it was genetic, but thinking about it, all of them had those eerie eyes, and few of them were actually related. Esme gave me a hug, much like I would expect a mother to give. Despite her similar physical coldness, her gestures and face were warm with love. She emitted the same energy as Charlie.

We sat through a small conversation, mainly consisting of how I liked the town, or the ever-present animal attacks in the woods and on the docks. The looks they gave each other gave me an urging suspicion that they knew something. And I would figure it out.